n. A character or symbol used to represent a sound, especially one used in phonography.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. A character or symbol used to represent a sound, esp. one used in phonography.

n. An instrument for the mechanical registration and reproduction of audible sounds, as articulate speech, etc. It consists of a rotating cylinder or disk covered with some material easily indented, as tinfoil, wax, paraffin, etc., above which is a thin plate carrying a stylus. As the plate vibrates under the influence of a sound, the stylus makes minute indentations or undulations in the soft material, and these, when the cylinder or disk is again turned, set the plate in vibration, and reproduce the sound.

n. an instrument for reproducing sounds, especially music, previously recorded on a plastic cylinder or disk as a pattern of bumps or wiggles in a groove. A needle (stylus) held in the groove is made to vibrate by motion (rotation) of the recording, and the vibrations caused by the bumps and wiggles are transmitted directly to a membrane, or first to an electronic amplifier circuit, thereby reproducing with greater or less fidelity the original sounds. A phonograph which is equipped with electronics enabling the playback of sound with high fidelity to the original is often called a hi-fi.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

To register or record by means of the phonograph.

n. A type or character for expressing a sound; a character used in phonography.

n. A form of phonautograph, the invention of Thomas A. Edison, by means of which sounds are made to produce on a register permanent tracings, each having an individual character corresponding to the sound producing it. The sounds can be afterward reproduced from the register.

The latter he dwelt upon for a moment, with an irritated indrawing of brows, then swung out the phonograph from the wall, pressed the button that made the cylinder revolve, and swiftly dictated, without ever a pause for word or idea:

As for "phonograph" - when I was in grade six I had to take a test to see if I could skip to grade seven I failed grade one because I was one of those Eastern European refugees & I was older than everyone else.

His most famous work, His Master's Voice, is one of the most well-known commercial logos in the world, having inspired the music industry trademark depicting a dog Nipper and phonograph, which is used by several corporations, including HMV, RCA, and JVC.

Another difficulty encountered in the commercial development of the phonograph was the adjustment of the recording stylus so as to enter the wax-like surface to a very slight depth, and of the reproducer so as to engage exactly the record when formed.